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From the world of physical pursuits the initiates of old called their disciples into the life
of the mind and the spirit. Throughout the ages, the Mysteries have stood at the threshold
of Reality--that hypothetical spot between noumenon and phenomenon, the Substance
and the shadow. The gates of the Mysteries stand ever ajar and those who will may pass
through into the spacious domicile of spirit. The world of philosophy lies neither to the
right nor to the left, neither above nor below. Like a subtle essence permeating all space
and all substance, it is everywhere; it penetrates the innermost and the outermost parts of
all being. In every man and woman these two spheres are connected by a gate which
leads from the not-self and its concerns to the Self and its realizations. In the mystic this
gate is the heart, and through spiritualization of his emotions he contacts that more
elevated plane which, once felt and known, becomes the sum of the worth-while. In the
philosopher, reason is the gate between the outer and the inner worlds, the illumined
mind bridging the chasm between the corporeal and the incorporeal. Thus godhood is
born within the one who sees, and from the concerns of men he rises to the concerns of
gods.
In this era of "practical" things men ridicule even the existence of God. They scoff at
goodness while they ponder with befuddled minds the phantasmagoria of materiality.
They have forgotten the path which leads beyond the stars. The great mystical institutions
of antiquity which invited man to enter into his divine inheritance have crumbled, and
institutions of human scheming now stand where once the ancient houses of learning rose
a mystery of fluted columns and polished marble. The white-robed sages who gave to the
world its ideals of culture and beauty have gathered their robes about them and departed
from the sight of men. Nevertheless, this little earth is bathed as of old in the sunlight of
its Providential Generator. Wide-eyed babes still face the mysteries of physical existence.
Men continue to laugh and cry, to love and hate; Some still dream of a nobler world, a
fuller life, a more perfect realization. In both the heart and mind of man the gates which
lead from mortality to immortality are still ajar. Virtue, love, and idealism are yet the
regenerators of humanity. God continues to love and guide the destinies of His creation.
The path still winds upward to accomplishment. The soul of man has not been deprived
of its wings; they are merely folded under its garment of flesh. Philosophy is ever that
magic power which, sundering the vessel of clay, releases the soul from its bondage to
habit and perversion. Still as of old, the soul released can spread its wings and soar to the
very source of itself.
The criers of the Mysteries speak again, bidding all men welcome to the House of Light.
The great institution of materiality has failed. The false civilization built by man has
turned, and like the monster of Frankenstein, is destroying its creator. Religion wanders
aimlessly in the maze of theological speculation. Science batters itself impotently against
the barriers of the unknown. Only transcendental philosophy knows the path. Only the
illumined reason can carry the understanding part of man upward to the light. Only
philosophy can teach man to be born well, to live well, to die well, and in perfect measure
be born again. Into this band of the elect--those who have chosen the life of knowledge,
of virtue, and of utility--the philosophers of the ages invite YOU.